Exit, Pursued by a Bear
by Jon Carp
Summary: Before the closing night's performance, three actors chew the fat


Exit, Pursued by a Bear  
by Jon Carp  
  
  
Contains spoilers for much of the show, including the final episode.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
(Sitting in a brightly-lit green room, feet up on the table, drinking sodas; no apprehension about the coming performance. A relaxed atmoshpere, cigarette smoke in the air, though no one appears to be smoking.)  
  
  
a: ...So the swords are, naturally, a phallic symbol, and the roses represent vaginas, of course. And how do you lose a duel? You get your rose plucked by a sword. So to lose a duel is basically to lose one's virginity, and since the duels are to determine who is the purest and most princely...  
  
b: I know that, everyone knows that! But this theory doesn't take into consideration what WINNING the duel means. Winning the duel gives one the rose bride, and all the sexuality that comes with her.  
  
a: Ah, but it's princely to do the plucking. That's where the ironic misogyny comes into play. Utena owns the bride and pierces many roses, but Touga-san beats her, it leads to a huge sexual identity crisis. See? She experienced femininity and domination for the first time.  
  
b: I understand all that, of course. The rose imagery is cliched and boring. NATURALLY they represent the vagina. And the school's motif is simply explained: danger, for behind every door, in every garden lurks a threat to the virginity. But LISTEN to yourself and to what I say: if the entire purpose is to grow up, then would a loss of virginity get in the way? Can one even accomplish the goal with one's virginity intact? I am, of course, being metaphorical.  
  
a: That's the entire QUESTION, dolt! Akio-san seems convinced that it's a lengthy process, requiring intense power.   
  
b: The power to revolutionize the world.  
  
a: Indeed. But his words are, at best, unreliable.   
  
b: A 'ride in the car' allows one to GLIMPSE the end of the world, if not become a part of it. Then again, it is the CHAIRMAN'S end and the CHAIRMAN'S world. I suppose that's just as unreliable.  
  
a: True.  
  
pause  
  
b: Please don't call me a dolt again.  
  
a: Okay.  
  
pause  
  
a: Want to run lines?  
  
b: Okay. Better get into character.  
  
a: (proudly) I'm already IN character.  
  
b: No, you're not.  
  
a: Yes, I am. I was practicing earlier today, and just had the character put on my personality, rather than regressing back to myself and then getting BACK into character later. Faster this way.  
  
b: You are, indeed, a consummate actor.  
  
a: Thank you.  
  
b: One question...  
  
a: Yes?  
  
b: When you say "myself", who are you refering to?  
  
a: Why, A-ko, of course!  
  
b: Ah. It's a pain; so many usses. To tell you the truth, I'll be glad when this nonsense is over and I'll never have to be a "ko" again.  
  
a: Not me. I love the shadows. Anyway, are you ready to begin?  
  
b: One second.  
  
(but the door crashes open and c trudges in)  
  
a: Good morning.  
  
c: (glumly) Hello.   
  
b: Something wrong?  
  
c: Not really. I've just been having trouble with this character.  
  
a: Um, I don't think "Girl who can barely remember Utena" is the most complex of roles.  
  
c: Yes, but I HATE these literal characters! They hit too close to home. Besides, it's our last performance!   
  
a: The drama club will move on to other things. We always do.  
  
c: Well, that's all right for ME, but what about C-ko? What about all the other me's I've collected over the last thirty episodes?  
  
b: There are always encores. Movies, sequels, specials...  
  
c: (sighing) I suppose you're right.   
  
b: But anyway, perk up! Glumness does not suit you.  
  
c: Which me?  
  
b: All of them! But especially C-ko. C-ko doesn't cry or angst or fear! She's a strong girl, competent and good-natured!  
  
c: You're right! (She prances across the room and grabs b in an intense bear hug.) Thanks for cheering me up! You know, I'm glad the "ko" thing is ending, because now I'll get to work with you two all the time! One-woman shows just aren't as much fun. (She walks to the exit.) I'm going to run buy some smokes. I'll be back in time for tech. Bye! (She exits.)  
  
pause  
  
a: Strange girl.  
  
b: Very, very strange. But an excellent actor.  
  
a: Indeed. It's amazing to watch her get so worked up over these tiny little roles. We're just the chorus, after all. It's not like anyone cares about us one way or the other.  
  
b: Not like Utena-sama.  
  
a: Of course not! EVERYONE cares about Utena-sama! And Touga-sama and Juri-sama and all the rest. We're not like that.  
  
b: Maybe one day...  
  
a: It's best not to think like that. We're actors, given the role of the chorus, and we must do our job.  
  
b: Yes, but maybe one day we'll be able to play REAL characters with REAL names. Maybe one day we'll be as important as Utena-sama.  
  
a: It's really best not to think like that.   
  
b: (murmuring) Utena-sama...  
  
a: Besides, we ARE important, in our own way. Without us, the story would be like a fish in a boat, flopping about with no sense of reason or direction. And it's nice in the shadows.  
  
b: I hate the shadows, and I hate this story. Only Utena-sama is worthwhile.  
  
pause  
  
a: B-ko, are you okay? You don't sound like yourself.  
  
b: (suddenly exploding) I'm not myself! I'm not B-ko! I'm just a normal high school girl with all the requisite fears and problems! And I HATE acting! I just want to be a star one day! That's the only reason I ever even joined the drama club!  
  
a: (aside) THIS role again. (to b) Okay then, if you're a normal high school girl, then I'm a horrible monster.  
  
(a suddenly grows to a humongous size. lumps appear on her back and numerous tentacles sprout from her body)  
  
a: How do you like THIS, huh?  
  
b: (sullen) Stop playing your games.   
  
a: It's not a game! I'm gonna eat you!  
  
b: (to herself) Maybe one day I'll be special like Utena-sama. Maybe one day I'll be special enough to be a star.  
  
pause  
  
(a shrinks back to her normal self)  
  
pause  
  
b: Did you know I rode in Mikage's elevator?  
  
a: No, I didn't. Do you mean B-ko, or Girl Who Wants to Be a Star?  
  
b: Star-Girl. Me. I told him I wanted to be special like Utena-sama and I wanted to stand out.  
  
a: What did he say?  
  
b: He told me to go back to drama club and not bother him again.   
  
a: That's good advice.  
  
b: How do you mean?  
  
a: We've got it figured out here! We jump from role to role with flair and style! That's the way things should be. That's the world of adults! Only children are trapped being one boring character all the time. Think how happy Mikage would have been if he'd been able to suddenly change himself into someone else? Hell, he might have WON that duel.  
  
b: ...I guess you're right.  
  
a: Of course I am! We're the only ones who aren't trapped in coffins, you see? Even Utena-sama fell into the trap. Her mistake was not choosing to be a prince rather than a princess, it was choosing to be ANYTHING AT ALL!  
  
pause  
  
b: Poor Utena-sama. I wonder if Akio-san has defeated her yet?  
  
a: Not yet. But soon. And then she'll be prying the doors open with her bloodied fingers, wondering if she has enough strength left, or if she'll die right there, a failure prince.  
  
pause  
  
a: But don't worry. She has enough strength to open the doors, and the coffin behind them, too. And she'll take Anthy-san's hand...  
  
b: And then?  
  
a: And then the swords.  
  
pause  
  
b: And then?  
  
a: And then it's performance time.  
  
pause  
  
b: Poor Utena-sama.  
  
a: Well, we tried to help her. If she'd joined the drama club, she'd have already known the ending of the story.  
  
b: I'm still not sure we did the right thing. The hero isn't supposed to be a member of the chorus! It would cause all sorts of problems! If the hero becomes omniscient, then...  
  
a: Then the hero might get a happy ending, for once.  
  
pause  
  
b: That idiot. All she had to do was join us.   
  
a: (teasing) And you'd get to be close to her too, right?  
  
b: Right. (sighs) It's weird, I think nearly all of my selves are infatuated with her.  
  
a: She's extrodinary indeed.  
  
b: She is. I wish she'd known me while I was doing a REAL role. Something with meat. Not this "ko" shadow crap.  
  
a: Well, after this performance, we'll get to do whatever we want.  
  
b: Good. (laughs) I really do sound like one of those black rose duelists, don't I?  
  
a: A little. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. They're good roles; Wakaba-san and Kozue-san especially. They have complex problems.  
  
b: True.  
  
pause  
  
b: Do you think, if I were to duel, I would have my own sword, or would I have to pull one out of someone else?  
  
a: I don't know. You should probably ask c-ko.  
  
(c walks in, puffing on a cigarette)  
  
c: Hi, girls! Talking about me?  
  
b: I was wondering if we have swords inside of us, like real duellists.  
  
c: Pfft. Everyone has a sword inside them. That was the problem with the black rose duelists! They were infatuated by the "specialness" of someone else, instead of recognizing their own power.   
  
b: EVERYONE has power? Even Keiko?  
  
c: Well, maybe not Keiko.  
  
b: See? Am I like that?  
  
pause as c thinks  
  
c: No. I promise, you are not.  
  
b: (extremely happily pouncing on c) Oh, thank you!   
  
a: But, you're disregarding...  
  
b: You've brought back B-ko!   
  
c: I'm glad I could return the favor.  
  
a: You're both disregarding an important factor. No one can escape from a coffin by themselves. No one can draw a sword out of their own chest. Even after turning into a car, no one can successfully navigate the road without a driver.  
  
c: How did you know about the cars?  
  
a: E-ko's my cousin.  
  
b: Oh, forget about all of this nonsense! Utena-sama's not going to lose for a while yet, and we've barely prepared for the cast party! C'mon, C-ko, let's go buy some champaigne.  
  
c: Okay!  
  
a: Hey, wait a minute!  
  
(but b and c have already exited)  
  
a: (callng out the door) Hey! I'm not supposed to be alone! And we haven't even rehearsed!  
  
(she keeps staring out the door for a moment, then gives up and sadly trudges to the dirty couch and sits)  
  
a: (muttering) Says she wants to be some great actor, but won't even rehearse... damn bitch.  
  
pause  
  
a: It's hard to switch roles, sometimes. I'm stuck in a melancholy one right now. I wonder...  
  
pause  
  
a: I wonder if Anthy's done it yet. Poor Utena. She didn't understand what we were really offering her.   
  
pause  
  
a: And she didn't understand how scary it was to come out of the shadows.  
  
(a rises and paces)  
  
a: I wonder... what must she have been thinking? Two plain, normal girls come up to her and want her to join a club... How often did that happen to her, once a week? She must have just stopped paying attention to plain, normal girls like us. Girls who will forget her once she's gone.  
  
pause  
  
a: I wonder sometimes, does it even matter who I am? Am I important? Schoolgirl or shadow, A-ko or B-ko, Rosencrantz or Guildenstern, Vladamir or Estragon... is there any difference at all? I can jump from role to role, I can avoid Akio's traps of childhood and seduction, but what does it matter if *I* never matter? I wonder...  
  
pause  
  
a: If B-ko ever changed into a car, I would drive her away even if it put us in danger. I wonder if she'd do the same for me.  
  
pause  
  
a: The audience watches our performances and applauds at the end, but do they know us? When the camera cuts from shadow to the burning sun, is there a little space in their memory left for three strange girls? We help the story, why doesn't the story help us? I wonder.  
  
pause  
  
a: What have I said?  
  
(b enters)  
  
b: C-ko's on her way. Utena's opening the doors, isn't she?  
  
a: I think so.  
  
b: I guess we won't get a chance to rehearse. Oh well. We'll do fine.  
  
a: Yes, we will.  
  
pause  
  
b: Are you okay?  
  
a: Yes... I just wonder.  
  
b: What do you wonder?  
  
a: I wonder if anyone cares what I wonder.  
  
pause  
  
b: (aside) After this, we should do a Mamet show just to get back in the practice of real drama. But after that...  
  
pause  
  
a: The coffin.  
  
pause  
  
b: (aside) I'll turn into a car and we'll drive away from here. C will grab shotgun, we'll take E and F, and soon we'll be on our way to...  
  
pause  
  
a: The swords.  
  
b: Hollywood.  
  
pause  
  
a: What?   
  
b: Nothing.  
  
(c enters)  
  
c: Are we on?  
  
a: Yes, we're on.  
  
c: Break a leg, A-ko. Break a leg, B-ko.  
  
a: Break a leg, C-ko. Break a leg, B-ko.  
  
b: Break a leg, A-ko. Break a leg, C-ko.  
  
b: (aside) There aren't any shadows in Hollywood.  
  
exeunt 


End file.
